Ilka Feller

Staff Profile

Ilka Feller

Scientist Emeritus

felleri@si.edu

Specialty

Mangrove Ecologist

Research Labs

Animal-Plant Interaction

Expert Areas

animal plant interactions

aquatic ecosystems

biodiversity

ecology

ecosystems

global change

herbivores

insects

mangroves

nutrient pollution

plant ecology

pollution

Curriculum Vitae

Biography
Publications

Biography

B.A., University of North Carolina, Greensboro (Biology, 1969)/ Ph.D., Georgetown University (Ecology, 1993) Research interest in insect ecology, animal-plant interactions, mangrove ecology

Publications

Canty, Steven W. J. ; Cifuentes-Jara, Miguel ; Herrera-Silveira, Jorge ; Morrissette, Hannah K. ; Cissell, Jordan R. ; Acosta-Velázquez, Joanna ; Cherrington, Emil ; Feller, Ilka C. ; Friess, Daniel A. ; Lefcheck, Jonathan S. ; Simpson, LoraeT ; Teutli-Hernandez, Claudia. (2025). Implications of improved remote sensing capabilities on blue carbon quantification. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, 319 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2025.109275
Overstreet, Katelyn ; Dangremond, Emily M. ; Feller, Ilka C.. (2025). Frozen Green Leaves as Potential Nutrient Subsidies in North American Mangrove Ecosystems . Estuaries and Coasts, 48 (2) , . http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12237-024-01457-1
Kaalstad, Simen ; Osland, Michael J. ; Devlin, Donna J. ; Proffitt, C. Edward ; Feher, Laura C. ; Armitage, Anna R. ; Day, Richard H. ; Swanson, Kathleen M. ; Anderson, Gordon H. ; Berger, Brigid ; Cebrian, Just ; Cummins, Karen L. ; Dunton, Kenneth H. ; Feller, Ilka C. ; Fierro-Cabo, Alejandro ; Flores, Elena A. ; From, Andrew S. ; Hughes, A. Randall ; Kaplan, David A. ; Langston, Amy K. ; Martinez, Melinda ; Martinez, Briana ; Miller, Christopher J. ; Reaver, Nathan G. ; Sanspree, Colt R. ; Snyder, Caitlin M. ; Stetter, Andrew P. ; Thompson, Jamie E. ; Zamora-Tovar, Carlos. (2024). Temperature Thresholds for Leaf Damage from Two Extreme Freeze Events (2018 and 2021) Near the Northern Range Limit of Black Mangroves (Avicennia germinans) in Southeastern North America . Estuaries and Coasts, 47 (1) , . http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12237-023-01279-7
Bardou, Remi ; Osland, Michael J. ; Scyphers, Steven ; Shepard, Christine ; Aerni, Karen E. ; Alemu, Jahson B. ; Crimian, Robert ; Day, Richard H. ; Enwright, Nicholas M. ; Feher, Laura C. ; Gibbs, Sarah L. ; O'Donnell, Kiera ; Swinea, Savannah H. ; Thorne, Kalaina ; Truskey, Sarit ; Armitage, Anna R. ; Baker, Ronald ; Breithaupt, Josh L. ; Cavanaugh, Kyle C. ; Cebrian, Just ; Cummins, Karen ; Devlin, Donna J. ; Doty, Jacob ; Ellis, William L. ; Feller, Ilka C. ; Gabler, Christopher A. ; Kang, Yiyang ; Kaplan, David A. ; Kennedy, John Paul ; Krauss, Ken W. ; Lamont, Margaret M. ; Liu, Kam-biu ; Martinez, Melinda ; Matheny, Ashley M. ; McClenachan, Giovanna M. ; McKee, Karen L. ; Mendelssohn, Irving A. ; Michot, Thomas C. ; Miller, Christopher J. ; Moon, Jena A. ; Moyer, Ryan P. ; Nelson, James ; O'Connor, Richard ; Pahl, James W. ; Pitchford, Jonathan L. ; Proffitt, C. Edward ; Quirk, Tracy ; Radabaugh, Kara R. ; Scheffel, Whitney A. ; Smee, Delbert L. ; Snyder, Caitlin M. ; Sparks, Eric ; Swanson, Kathleen M. ; Vervaeke, William C. ; Weaver, Carolyn A. ; Willis, Jonathan ; Yando, Erik S. ; Yao, Qiang ; Hughes, A. Randall. (2023). Rapidly Changing Range Limits in a Warming World: Critical Data Limitations and Knowledge Gaps for Advancing Understanding of Mangrove Range Dynamics in the Southeastern USA . Estuaries and Coasts, 46 , . http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12237-023-01209-7
Chieppa, Jeff ; Feller, Ilka C. ; Harris, Kylie ; Dorrance, Susannah ; Sturchio, Matthew A. ; Gray, Eve ; Tjoelker, Mark G. ; Aspinwall, Michael J. (2023). Thermal acclimation of leaf respiration is consistent in tropical and subtropical populations of two mangrove species . Journal of experimental botany, http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erad093
Morris, James T. ; Langley, J. A. ; Vervaeke, William C. ; Dix, Nicole ; Feller, Ilka C. ; Marcum, Pam ; Chapman, Samantha K.. (2023). Mangrove Trees Outperform Saltmarsh Grasses in Building Elevation but Collapse Rapidly Under High Rates of Sea‐Level Rise . Earth's Future, 11 (4) http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2022EF003202
Morrissette, Hannah K. ; Baez, Stacy K. ; Beers, Lisa ; Bood, Nadia ; Martinez, Ninon D. ; Novelo, Kevin ; Andrews, Gilbert ; Balan, Luis ; Beers, C. S. ; Betancourt, Sumeet A. ; Blanco, Reynel ; Bowden, Eeryn ; Burns-Perez, Virginia ; Carcamo, Mercedes ; Chevez, Luis ; Crooks, Stephen ; Feller, Ilka C. ; Galvez, Galento ; Garbutt, Kent ; Gongora, Ronny ; Grijalva, Edalmi ; Lefcheck, Jonathan ; Mahung, Alwyn ; Mattis, Colin ; McKoy, Tre ; McLaughlin, Daniel ; Meza, Johan ; Pott, Edwardo ; Ramirez, Genevieve ; Ramnarace, Vivian ; Rash, Anthony ; Rosado, Samir ; Santos, Honorio ; Santoya, Leomir ; Sosa, Wilson ; Ugarte, Gabriela ; Viamil, Jose ; Young, Arlene ; Young, Jayron ; Canty, Steven W. J.. (2023). Belize Blue Carbon: Establishing a national carbon stock estimate for mangrove ecosystems . Science of The Total Environment, 870 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.161829
Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid ; Friess, Daniel A. ; Lovelock, Catherine E. ; Connolly, Rod M. ; Feller, Ilka C. ; Rogers, Kerrylee ; Cannicci, Stefano. (2022). Cross-cutting research themes for future mangrove forest research . Nature Plants, 8 (10) , 1131-1135. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01245-4
Forde, Alexander J. ; Feller, Ilka C. ; Parker, John D. ; Gruner, Daniel S. (2022). Insectivorous birds reduce herbivory but do not increase mangrove growth across productivity zones . Ecology, http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ecy.3768
Zamora‐Tovar, Carlos ; Fierro‐Cabo, Alejandro ; Lindig‐Cisneros, Roberto ; Feller, Ilka C. (2022). First report of Avicennia germinans (Acanthaceae) as a larval host of Junonia litoralis (Nymphalidae) causing higher foliar damage in seedlings than trees . Plant Species Biology, 37 (3) , 231-242. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1442-1984.12372
Aspinwall, Michael J. ; Faciane, Martina ; Harris, Kylie ; O'Toole, Madison ; Neece, Amy ; Jerome, Vrinda ; Colón, Mateo ; Chieppa, Jeff ; Feller, Ilka C. (2021). Salinity has little effect on photosynthetic and respiratory responses to seasonal temperature changes in black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) seedlings . Tree physiology, 41 (1) , 103-118. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/treephys/tpaa107
Baker, Ronald ; Abrantes, Katya ; Feller, Ilka C. (2021). Stable Isotopes Suggest Limited Role of Wetland Macrophyte Production Supporting Aquatic Food Webs Across a Mangrove-Salt Marsh Ecotone. Estuaries and Coasts, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12237-021-00895-5
Simpson, Lorae T. ; Canty, Steven W. J. ; Cissell, Jordan R. ; Cissell, Jordan R. ; Cherry, J. A. ; Feller, Ilka C. (2021). Bird rookery nutrient over-enrichment as a potential accelerant of mangrove cay decline in Belize. Oecologia, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-05056-w
Yando, Erik S. ; Sloey, Taylor M. ; Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid ; Rogers, Kerrylee ; Abuchahla, Guilherme M. O. ; Cannicci, Stefano ; Canty, Steven W. J. ; Jennerjahn, Tim C. ; Ogurcak, Danielle E. ; Adams, Janine B. ; Connolly, Rod M. ; Diele, Karen ; Lee, Shing Yip ; Rowntree, Jennifer K. ; Sharma, Sahadev ; Cavanaugh, Kyle C. ; Cormier, Nicole ; Feller, Ilka C. ; Fratini, Sara ; Ouyang, Xiaoguang ; Wee, Alison K. S. ; Friess, Daniel A.. (2021). Conceptualizing ecosystem degradation using mangrove forests as a model system . Biological Conservation, 263 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2021.109355
Bardou, Remi ; Parker, John D. ; Feller, Ilka C. ; Cavanaugh, Kyle C. (2020). Variability in the fundamental versus realized niches of North American mangroves. Journal of Biogeography, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jbi.13990

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center

Ilka Feller

Biography

Publications

Pages